Production of Galactinol from Sucrose by Plant Enzymes

Abstract

  Galactinol, 1-O-(α-D-galactopyranosyl)-myo-inositol, was produced from sucrose as a starting material.
  UDP-Glc was prepared with sucrose and UDP using sucrose synthase partially purified from sweet potato roots. Then, the UDP-Glc was converted to UDP-Gal using yeast UDP-Gal 4-epimerase from a commercial source. Finally, galactinol was produced from the UDP-Gal and myo-inositol using galactinol synthase partially purified from cucumber leaves. The product was identified as galactinol by the retention times of HPLC, α-galactosidase digestion, and NMR spectrometry.